3D printed PEDOT:PSS-based conducting and patternable eutectogel electrodes for machine learning on textiles.

The proliferation of medical wearables necessitates the development of novel electrodes for cutaneous electrophysiology. In this work, poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is combined with a deep eutectic solvent (DES) and polyethylene glycol diacrylate (PEGDA) to develop printable and biocompatible electrodes for long-term cutaneous electrophysiology recordings. The impact of printing parameters on the conducting properties, morphological characteristics, mechanical stability and biocompatibility of the material were investigated. The optimised eutectogel formulations were fabricated in four different patterns -flat, pyramidal, striped and wavy- to explore the influence of electrode geometry on skin conformability and mechanical contact. These electrodes were employed for impedance and forearm EMG measurements. Furthermore, arrays of twenty electrodes were embedded into a textile and used to generate body surface potential maps (BSPMs) of the forearm, where different finger movements were recorded and analysed. Finally, BSPMs for three different letters (B, I, O) in sign-language were recorded and used to train a logistic regressor classifier able to reliably identify each letter. This novel cutaneous electrode fabrication approach offers new opportunities for long-term electrophysiological recordings, online sign-language translation and brain-machine interfaces.

Light-Based 3D Multi-Material Printing of Micro-Structured Bio-Shaped, Conducting and Dry Adhesive Electrodes for Bioelectronics.

In this work, a new method of multi-material printing in one-go using a commercially available 3D printer is presented. The approach is simple and versatile, allowing the manufacturing of multi-material layered or multi-material printing in the same layer. To the best of the knowledge, it is the first time that 3D printed Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) micro-patterns combining different materials are reported, overcoming mechanical stability issues. Moreover, the conducting ink is engineered to obtain stable in-time materials while retaining sub-100 µm resolution. Micro-structured bio-shaped protuberances are designed and 3D printed as electrodes for electrophysiology. Moreover, these microstructures are combined with polymerizable deep eutectic solvents (polyDES) as functional additives, gaining adhesion and ionic conductivity. As a result of the novel electrodes, low skin impedance values showed suitable performance for electromyography recording on the forearm. Finally, this concluded that the use of polyDES conferred stability over time, allowing the usability of the electrode 90 days after fabrication without losing its performance. All in all, this demonstrated a very easy-to-make procedure that allows printing PEDOT:PSS on soft, hard, and/or flexible functional substrates, opening up a new paradigm in the manufacturing of conducting multi-functional materials for the field of bioelectronics and wearables.

Direct ink writing of PEDOT eutectogels as substrate-free dry electrodes for electromyography.

Deep Eutectic Solvents (DES) are a new class of ionic conductive compounds attracting significant attention as greener alternatives to costly ionic liquids. Herein, we developed novel mixed ionic-electronic conducting materials by simple mixing of poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene)/poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) and various DES as additives. The DES addition induces the supramolecular assembly and gelification of PEDOT:PSS forming eutectogels triggered by extensive hydrogen bonding and charge stabilization. The eutectogels feature boosts the mixed ionic-electronic conductivity of PEDOT:PSS up to 368 S cm-1, unveiling great potential as flexible bioelectronics. All the PEDOT:PSS/DES gels showed shear-thinning behavior and viscosity values ranging from 100 to 1000 Pa s. The eutectogels show good injectability with almost instantaneous elastic recovery, making them ideal materials for direct ink writing (DIW). As proof of that, PEDOT:PSS/DES (choline chloride:lactic acid) was 3D printed in different patterns, annealed at high temperature, and assembled into adhesive electrodes. This way tattoos-like electrodes, denoted as Eutecta2 were fabricated and placed in vivo on the forearm and the thumb of human volunteers for electromyography measurements. Eutecta2 hexagonal patterns showed excellent conformability, and their signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) was higher than Ag/AgCl commercial electrodes for thumb motion measurements. Furthermore, forearm motion was measured after 14 days with similar values of SNR, demonstrating long-term stability and reusability. All in all, our findings revealed that DES could be used as inexpensive and safe additives to direct the self-assembly of PEDOT:PSS into supramolecular eutectogels inks for flexible bioelectronics.

Bi2CoO2F4-A Polar, Ferrimagnetic Aurivillius Oxide-Fluoride.

Aurivillius oxides have been a research focus due to their ferroelectric properties, but by replacing oxide ions by fluoride, divalent magnetic cations can be introduced, giving Bi2 MO2F4 (M = Fe, Co, and Ni). Our combined experimental and computational study on Bi2CoO2F4 indicates a low-temperature polar structure of P21 ab symmetry (analogous to ferroelectric Bi2WO6) and a ferrimagnetic ground state. These results highlight the potential of Aurivillius oxide-fluorides for multiferroic properties. Our research has also revealed some challenges associated with the reduced tendency for polar displacements in the more ionic fluoride-based systems.

Synthesis and Characterization of Two New Second Harmonic Generation Active Iodates: K3Sc(IO3)6 and KSc(IO3)3Cl.

Transparent single crystals of two new iodates K3Sc(IO3)6 and KSc(IO3)3Cl have been synthesized hydrothermally. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction was used to determine their crystal structures. Both compounds crystallize in non-centrosymmetric space groups. The compound K3Sc(IO3)6 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Fdd2. The crystal structure is made up of [ScO6] octahedra, [IO3] trigonal pyramids, and [KO8] distorted cubes. The compound KSc(IO3)3Cl crystallizes in the trigonal space group R3. The building blocks are [ScO6] octahedra, [KO12] polyhedra, and [IO3] trigonal pyramids. The Cl- ions act as counter ions and reside in tunnels in the crystal structure. The second harmonic generation (SHG) measurements at room temperature, using 1064 nm radiation, on polycrystalline samples show that the SHG intensities of K3Sc(IO3)6 and KSc(IO3)3Cl are around 2.8 and 2.5 times that of KH2PO4 (KDP), respectively. In addition, K3Sc(IO3)6 and KSc(IO3)3Cl are phase-matchable at the fundamental wavelength of 1064 nm. The large anharmonicity in the optical response of both compounds is further supported by an anomalous temperature dependence of optical phonon frequencies as well as their enlarged intensities in Raman scattering. The latter corresponds to a very large electronic polarizability.

Synthesis and Magnetic Properties of the KCu(IO3)3 Compound with [CuO5]∞ Chains.

The new quaternary iodate KCu(IO3)3 has been prepared by hydrothermal synthesis. KCu(IO3)3 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group P21/n with unit cell parameters a = 9.8143(4) Å, b = 8.2265(4) Å, c = 10.8584(5) Å, ß = 91.077(2)°, and z = 4. The crystals are light blue and translucent. There are three main building units making up the crystal structure: [KO10] irregular polyhedra, [CuO6] distorted octahedra, and [IO3] trigonal pyramids. The Jahn-Teller elongated [CuO6] octahedra connect to each other via corner sharing to form [CuO5]∞ zigzag chains along [010]; the other building blocks separate these chains. The Raman modes can be divided into four groups; the lower two groups into mainly lattice modes involving K and Cu displacements and the upper two groups into mainly bending and stretching modes of [IO3E], where E represents a lone pair of electron. At low temperatures, the magnetic susceptibility is characterized by a broad maximum centered at ∼5.4 K, characteristic for antiferromagnetic short-range ordering. Long-range magnetic ordering at T C = 1.32 K is clearly evidenced by a sharp anomaly in the heat capacity. The magnetic susceptibility can be very well described by a spin S = 1/2 antiferromagnetic Heisenberg chain with a nearest-neighbor spin exchange of ∼8.9 K.

Synthesis and Characterization of the Aurivillius Phase CoBi2O2F4.

The new CoBi2O2F4 compound was synthesized by a hydrothermal method at 230 °C. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction data were used to determine the crystal structure. The compound is layered and belongs to the Aurivillius family of compounds. The present compound is the first oxo-fluoride Aurivillius phase containing Co2+. Inclusion of a d-block cation with such a low oxidation state as 2+ was achieved by partially replacing O2- with F- ions. The crystal structure is best described in the tetragonal noncentrosymmetric space group I4̅ with unit-cell parameters a = 3.843(2) Å and c = 16.341(8) Å. The crystal structure consists of two main building units: [BiO4F4] distorted cubes and [CoF6] octahedra. Interestingly, since the octahedra [CoF6] tilt between four equivalent positions, the F atoms occupy a 4-fold split position at room temperature. For the investigation of the structural disorder, Raman scattering data were collected in the range from 10 K to room temperature. As the temperature decreases, sharper phonon peaks appear and several modes clearly appear, which indicates a reduction of the disorder. Magnetic susceptibility and heat capacity measurements evidence long-range antiferromagnetic ordering below the Néel temperature of ∼50 K. The magnetic susceptibility is in agreement with the Curie-Weiss law above 75 K with a Curie-Weiss temperature of θCW = -142(2) K.

Synthesis and Physical Properties of the Oxofluoride Cu2(SeO3)F2.

Single crystals of the new compound Cu2(SeO3)F2 were successfully synthesized via a hydrothermal method, and the crystal structure was determined from single-crystal X-ray diffraction data. The compound crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pnma with the unit cell parameters a = 7.066(4) Å, b = 9.590(4) Å, and c = 5.563(3) Å. Cu2(SeO3)F2 is isostructural with the previously described compounds Co2TeO3F2 and CoSeO3F2. The crystal structure comprises a framework of corner- and edge-sharing distorted [CuO3F3] octahedra, within which [SeO3] trigonal pyramids are present in voids and are connected to [CuO3F3] octahedra by corner sharing. The presence of a single local environment in both the 19F and 77Se solid-state MAS NMR spectra supports the hypothesis that O and F do not mix at the same crystallographic positions. Also the specific phonon modes observed with Raman scattering support the coordination around the cations. At high temperatures the magnetic susceptibility follows the Curie-Weiss law with Curie temperature of Θ = -173(2) K and an effective magnetic moment of µeff ∼ 2.2 µB. Antiferromagnetic ordering below ∼44 K is indicated by a peak in the magnetic susceptibility. A second though smaller peak at ∼16 K is tentatively ascribed to a magnetic reorientation transition. Both transitions are also confirmed by heat capacity measurements. Raman scattering experiments propose a structural phase instability in the temperature range 6-50 K based on phonon anomalies. Further changes in the Raman shift of modes at ∼46 K and ∼16 K arise from transitions of the magnetic lattice in accordance with the susceptibility and heat capacity measurements.